


Rooftops

by scheherezhad



Category: Batman (Comics), Teen Titans (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-03-11
Updated: 2009-03-11
Packaged: 2017-12-05 10:55:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/722263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scheherezhad/pseuds/scheherezhad
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dick runs into a celebrity and ends up with a friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rooftops

**Author's Note:**

  * For [karanguni](https://archiveofourown.org/users/karanguni/gifts).
  * Inspired by [This insubstantial pageant faded](https://archiveofourown.org/works/97084) by [karanguni](https://archiveofourown.org/users/karanguni/pseuds/karanguni). 



> Originally posted as a commentfic for my dear K, because Dick should always have a poster of Beast Boy on his wall.

"Hey, I'll give you a hundred bucks to trade jackets and lemme have that scarf," someone says to Dick from an alley.

He stops warily, shifting his backpack so its weight is more evenly distributed. No one in Gotham says stuff like that unless they just committed a crime. The accent's all wrong for Gotham, though, and he peers into the dimness at the pale form. "Sorry," he says, "too much sentimental value."

"Jesus," the guy spits. "What's it take to get some help around here? I'd have jerks chasing me down to take that offer in New York."

"Not in Gotham." Dick thinks there's something familiar about the voice, but he can't quite pin it.

There's a sigh. "Look, you got a hat? Sunglasses? I'm trying to stay on the DL, here."

It doesn't sound like a scam, really, so Dick swings his bag off one shoulder and unzips the front pocket. The hat he wore to school this morning is in there. It's nothing special; he can just tell Bruce he left it in the gym. "Here," he says, handing it over and wishing he could at least see the guy's face. "Are you in trouble or something?"

"Not yet." The guy shoves the toque on and steps forward. "Thanks."

Now Dick knows why he sounded familiar. He's standing in an alley with a tv star. "Oh! You're--"

"Yeah."

"It's... nice to meet you," Dick says. To Gar Logan. Dick loves his show, Urban Jungle, where he plays a superhero who shapeshifts into animals. Only Bruce knows that, though. Jay thinks it's pretty cheesy, and he'll mock Dick to no end if he finds out Dick's never missed an episode.

"You know anywhere good for being anonymous around here?" Gar asks.

 

Dick looks out over the city, elbows propped on the ledge of the roof of his building. There's a little 'snkt' sound beside him, and he looks over to see Gar lighting a crumpled cigarette.

"I'm not destroying any illusions for you, am I?"

"Not really," Dick says, shrugging.

"Hm. I don't know if I'm relieved or disappointed."

It seemed like a good idea at the time, bringing Gar back to his and Bruce's apartment. Gar followed him the eleven blocks home like a nervous dog hoping for a treat.

"You never asked why I was trying to run off," he says, breaking Dick's train of thought.

"It didn't seem like it was any of my business," Dick tells him, but part of him has been dying to know. "Just looked like you needed a break."

Gar snorts, and smoke curls out of his nose like a dragon. "You don't know the half of it. Damn promo tour for the show is running me into the ground." He leans on the ledge, too, close enough for his arm to almost be pressed against Dick's, and he stares blankly over the sea of rooftops. "When I was a kid, I thought being a tv star would be the best job in the world. Everything looks like an adventure after it's edited and loaded up with effects, you know? And it kind of is before all that, I guess. It's the other stuff I hate. The interviews, the award shows, the movie premieres, the meet and greets. That's the part that makes me want to go hide in a hole."

Dick nods. He isn't sure what he expected Gar to be like in person, hasn't really thought about it before, but he doesn't think he expected this skinny, chainsmoking, blond kid with dark circles under his eyes and defensive posture. Total opposite of his character on the show, a wholesome boy-next-door type who's always ready with a quip and a dose of justice.

They stand there a while longer, until the cold is too much for what they're wearing. Gar stubs out his fourth cigarette, and Dick brushes some grit off of his jacket. "You want to have some pizza?"

So Dick orders in pizza, and they get into a pretty serious Ultra Crush Cousins competition on his old Playtendo while they wait for the food. Gar seems a lot more relaxed once they've annihilated their dinner and are just flipping around the channels to see if there's anything half decent on. There isn't much, so they leave it on an old Rita Farr movie with the volume low.

Gar starts talking again. He tells Dick stories about California and New York, and answers questions about working in tv. He asks Dick things about being a normal teenager, then about the circus when he finds out where Dick grew up.

They're asleep on opposite ends of the couch by the time Bruce comes home.

 

Dick isn't surprised that Gar is gone without a word the next morning. There's a hundred dollar bill tucked in his backpack, though, and he smiles as he hides it away for a rainy day.

What does surprise him is when, a week later, he comes home from school and finds a package waiting for him when he checks the mail. It's a tube, and the return address is in Los Angeles. When he opens it, he finds a signed poster of Gar as Beast Boy, along with a note.

'Thanks for helping a guy out. Look me up if you're ever in LA. --Gar'

The poster gets framed and hung on Dick's wall. The note goes into Dick's memory box with an old Haley's flier, a photo of his parents, and the handful of photos he's accumulated living here with Bruce. He sort of wishes he had a picture with Gar, but the poster's good.

And anyway, Dick's pretty sure he can wrangle a campus visit to USC before the semester's over.


End file.
